


Magnetic House

by owlishann



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Fluff, M/M, Magnets, Mother-Son Relationship, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 14:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18671761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlishann/pseuds/owlishann
Summary: Ever since Yuuri moved to Detroit, he sends Hiroko a magnet whenever he competes in a new city. Hiroko loves them all, but five specific magnets stand out: those that tell the story of a mother and a son throughout the years.





	Magnetic House

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!
> 
> So we can post now our pieces for Okaeri! (make sure to check this collection and their [tumblr](https://yoihomezine.tumblr.com/) to see all the great pieces!)
> 
> Mine was part of the Uchi Edition, focused on stories that took place in Japan or places close to our hearts. There you go!

If Yuuri had learnt something in the month and a half he’d been living in St. Petersburg, it was that the postman always rang twice. Or their postman did, at least.

“Ah, yes,” answered Victor when he asked him. “He always does so, his ringing even has a rhythm if you pay close attention!”

Yuuri did. Victor was right.

“It’s because when I moved here I wouldn’t answer the intercom unless I knew who it was. He was seriously pissed at me, real talk, so we made a deal. He rang twice, I answered the intercom. He’s a nice man, better postman, Evgeni. He also knocks twice on my door even though I never asked.”

Yuuri thought that strategy worked perfectly for him as well. That’s why that morning, when his new home intercom rang twice with a particular rhythm, he stood up from the sofa and let the postman enter the building.

Evgeni was holding a small size envelope in his hands. He looked at the return address and smiled as he handed it carefully to Yuuri.

“From home.”

Yuuri looked at the postman first, then at the envelope, and at the postman again. He quickly thanked Evgeni and rushed towards the sofa, where Victor was lazily enjoying their free day. He looked up as Yuuri approached him, making him a spot by his side on the sofa.

“My mum sent us something,” he softly spoke as he carefully laid close to his fiancé.

“Might be the surprise she was talking about?”

“Might be.”

It was, indeed. There was a magnet inside the envelope, but it wasn’t like every other magnet. It was a precise reproduction of Yuutopia’s entrance. The first thing that stood out was the arch, which was flanked by two lamps. Tiny blue signs were hanging from it, announcing the name of the onsen in even tinier letters, along with a string of red lanterns. There were two trees as well, cherries in blossom, and if Yuuri squeezed his eyes he could even see some petals splattered all over the magnet. He had just told his mother that he wanted to stick something to the fridge a few weeks ago.

And there was something else inside the envelope: a sheet of paper, as small as the magnet itself, where his mother had written something down. _From your Japanese home to your Russian one_.

The thing was that it felt like home, it did, more like any other of the things Yuuri had brought from Hasetsu.

“We can stick it to the fridge,” Victor whispered, getting Yuuri out of his trance. He nodded, still silent, and slowly stood. Victor sat on the sofa, still not sure if Yuuri wanted this moment for himself, but he just took Victor’s hand absentmindedly and dragged him to the kitchen. Victor let out a chuckle.

The fridge looked new and ordinary, but as soon as Yuuri placed the magnet on its door it looked different, just a little bit.

“It feels like home.” Victor echoed Yuuri’s thoughts as he looked at the magnet as well.

“It does.”

 

Some thousands of miles away, where the original-sized Yuutopia stood, Hiroko got a picture from Yuuri.

“We already stuck it on the fridge!” the message read. “It’s amazing.”

A knowing look appeared on Hiroko’s face as she opened the file. She wasn’t a mother for nothing. Hiroko briefly looked over her shoulder, towards the kitchen, where their own fridge was standing. Its door was full of magnets from all over the world.

It was Yuuri himself who started the tradition once he left for America. Every time he went out to compete at any major city, he would buy a matching magnet and send it back to Hasetsu, where Hiroko would stick it on the fridge.

Five years was a long time, especially in the life of a qualified ice skater, and so the Katsuki’s fridge was overflowing with magnets. Hiroko could talk about each and every one of them by heart, not tripping over her tongue once. They all had a story; of that one time Yuuri got stuck in an elevator in Ottawa during Skate Canada and had to wait for almost two hours until he got rescued; or when Celestino surprised Yuuri and Phichit with a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower to see the Parisian sunset; or even when Minako and Mari travelled to Beijing to watch him skate at the Cup of China and threw roses at him. There was no end to it.

And, still, Hiroko’s mind always wandered to the same five magnets, to those that told the story of a mother and a son throughout the years and how they grew closer despite being far, far away.

 

* * *

 

**Detroit**

“Is it working? Yuuri? Can you see me? Can you hear me?”

No one answered.

“Let me see.” Yuuko took the Katsuki newly-bought laptop and started typing and clicking things Hiroko could never guess what were for.

It was only a month since Yuuri left for Detroit and they had already bought a new laptop, installed Skype and tried to learn how to use it. Tried.

It was also eleven in the morning in Hasetsu, nine in the night in Detroit, and Skype was not working. Mari wasn’t home to help, so Hiroko called Yuuko, who kindly showed up ten minutes later carrying her triplets in their three-seat trolley.

“I want to see Yuuri as well. I haven’t talked to him since he left.”

 

-

 

Detroit’s magnet was the first one to arrive and to make Hiroko’s mind wander. Detroit was written at its base, in a metallic grey, bold, in caps. Right on top of the name of the city there surged a group of buildings. It was almost as if those letters were meant to be the foundation that held its skyline. The buildings on both ends were smaller, but as they grew closer to the middle they also got higher, until the one in the very centre stood the tallest of them all, as if reaching desperately for the sky. It wasn’t colourful -it was in fact really dull- but it made Hiroko happy to know that those metallic giants were watching over Yuuri.

She had just got the magnet in the mail that same morning, and she was extremely eager to know more about the city Yuuri was now living in, so far away from her, so far away from comfort. Was it sunny? Was it large? Did people smile at him while he was walking on the street?

 

-

 

“I think it’s working now!” Yuuko’s voice came from the other room, and Hiroko rushed to her side and looked at the screen.

And there he was. His hair was wet from the shower, glasses still a bit foggy from the heat of the bathroom. She smiled at him and put her whole heart in that smile.

“Okaa-san, Yuuko. Hi.” Yuuri’s voice came out soft and tired, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. The tiniest of smiles appeared on his face.

“My Yuuri. How are you? I just got your magnet!” Hiroko got closer to the screen, to the point Yuuri could only see her forehead.

“Okaa-san, I can’t see you! Go back,” he laughed and Hiroko’s chest warmed up just by hearing her child laughing. “Did the magnet arrived safely?” Hiroko noticed how he avoided the first question, but she wouldn’t push him.

“It was perfectly fine. It’s already on the fridge, I really liked it! How did training go today? Is Celestino treating you well?” Yuuri let out a small sigh, relieved by the change of theme.

“He is. He’s kind and I’m learning and improving a lot.”

“Did you make any friends, Yuuri?” Yuuko interrupted and he looked down, avoiding their gaze.

“Not-Not yet. I’m focusing on training,” he muttered.

Hiroko closed her fists.

“Yuuri…” she started.

But he looked at the clock behind him and yawned.

“I think I’m off to bed.” He yawned again, more exaggerated this time, and stretched his arms. “Celestino is demanding a lot from me and I’m about to fall asleep from exhaustion.” He looked at Hiroko again. “Sorry that I couldn’t stay that long.”

“It’s fine,” she said, smiling. How she wanted to hug him, to tell him everything was going to turn out fine. “You can call whenever you’re in the mood, my love.”

“I know,” he added as he waved goodbye. “Good night.”

And his image was gone, leaving Hiroko staring at the desktop blankly. She let out a long sigh. This was going to be a bit of a bumpy ride, wasn’t it?

A few weeks later, another envelope arrived. It was from Yuuri as well, she opened it carefully. He didn’t tell him he had sent her anything else, but tears welled up in his eyes once she saw what was inside.

It was a picture of Yuuri. He was skating with his eyes closed, Celestino by his side. His semblance was peaceful, relaxed: he was doing what he loved the most. And despite how worried Hiroko was about him, she knew at that same moment that she didn’t regret her decision of supporting him.

On the back of the picture, in a handwriting that didn’t belong to Yuuri, there was something written.

“Yuuri on ice,” she read aloud.

She hung the picture on the fridge, using the Detroit magnet to hold it.

 

* * *

 

**Shanghai**

“Everything’s ready. He went downstairs to talk to Celestino and must be coming back at any minute now.”

Phichit was sat on his bed with his pyjamas on and his phone in his hand.

“Do you think he suspects something?”

The Katsukis, on the other hand, were all together at the onsen living room, sheltering themselves from the cold under the kotatsu.

“Nah,” Phichit said looking at the Katsukis through the screen. “He’s so worried about the competition that he can barely remember that it’s his birthday today.”

All the lights were turned off in Phichit and Yuuri’s shared hotel room, and the only source of light came from the phone.

“Did the present arrive safely?” Hiroko asked, nerves eating her up.

“Yep! He didn’t even notice I brought something extra in the suitcase. Yuuri’s going to love it!”

Hiroko smiled softly with her gaze fixed on Phichit’s image. The boy was an angel.

Then, the door opened and a confused Yuuri made his entrance.

“Phichit?” Yuuri muttered while he approached the bed where his friend was sitting. “Why are the lights off?”

Phichit turned the phone around so the screen faced directly Yuuri and smiled.

“Happy birthday!!”

 

-

 

Yuuri apologized a thousand times for the Shanghai magnet. The Cup of China kept him so busy that he couldn’t manage to buy a Shanghai-themed magnet and ended up picking in a rush the first magnet he found at the airport on his way back: a panda. A sitting panda eating bamboo. To be honest, Hiroko really liked it, but no matter how much she told Yuuri, he still thought that that magnet was a disgrace to the collection. It was the cutest one, actually, and it brought Hiroko some really good memories about Yuuri and Phichit’s trip to China.

Hiroko didn’t know she was holding her breath until Yuuri befriended Phichit. Or Phichit befriended Yuuri, that was probably more accurate. She knew her son wasn’t good at making friends, and she was worried. Yuuri loved being alone, it was vital to him and his well-being, but sometimes he would get caught up in his own head and that same need would turn itself into a self-destructive weapon. And then Phichit stumbled upon him. Suddenly, there was a cheerful voice at the background when Hiroko called Yuuri, someone next to him in the few pictures he showed her, hamsters pictures attached to the magnets Yuuri kept sending.

Without realizing, Phichit had turned into a safety belt for her. There were times she couldn’t find a way to soothe her son. The distance between them was too vast. Yuuri wouldn’t open up to her. He only needed a hug. That only frustrated her even more, and the only thing that could let her sleep those nights was knowing that Yuuri was not alone.

Staring at that magnet gave her the same feeling.

 

-

 

_Phichit sent a picture._

Phichit: He blew all the candles at once, made a wish and loved your present!!

Mama Katsuki: He’s so handsome!!

Phichit: I’ll give him a hug from each one of you and a lick from Vicchan

Phichit: I’ll also send more pictures of Shanghai

Phichit: I know he lacks that ability

In the picture, Yuuri was sitting on the same bed Phichit was at the beginning. The lights were still off, but his face was lit up by twenty-one burning candles on top of the birthday cake that he was holding in front of him. He was wearing a party hat and a fake red feather boa around his neck. His eyes could barely be seen because the light of the candles was reflecting on his glasses, but he had the warmest smile in his face. He seemed so carefree, so happy, and Hiroko stopped worrying. For a while, at least.

She made Yuuri promise he would take Phichit to Hasetsu as soon as possible.

 

* * *

 

**Sochi**

The strident ringing of the phone cut up the silence of the night and woke Hiroko up from her light sleep. She purposely left the phone’s volume up. Just in case.

“Hello?” She answered, still half awake, without looking at the phone screen.

“Hello. Mom, were you sleeping?” _It’s Yuuri_ , her drowsy mind registered.

“I was, but…”

“Sorry,” he said before she could even finish. His voice was dull, but it conveyed at the same time frustration, defeat, sadness. He knew that she knew what had just happened. _Oh, Yuuri_.

“Don’t worry, honey. I just went to bed, we stayed up late watching you,” she whispered softly, as if trying to hug Yuuri with her voice in a way that she couldn’t do with her arms at the moment. She stood up and left her bedroom to avoid waking Toshiya up.

“Oh, you were watching on TV?”

“We did! We held a public viewing and everyone came to watch!”

“Huh? A public viewing? Please! I’m so embarrassed!” His laugh sounded unnatural, stiff, and Hiroko let out a soft sigh, inaudible to Yuuri.

“Don’t have to be, honey. We’re so proud of you.”

And the dam was opened, Hiroko realized as soon as Yuuri took a few seconds more than usual to answer.

“I’m sorry… I messed up.” And his whisper came out broken, almost grazing the pain. She felt so helpless, so far away, and even guilty for bringing the subject up.

“Oh no, Yuuri, my love,” she whispered. “You had put up with a lot these days, and despite everything that has happened you have been able to skate and... Yuuri?” She asked when no sound came from the other end of the line.

Hiroko slowly dropped her hand from her ear and looked at the screen in despair. He had hung up.

 

-

 

Sochi’s magnet was broken in half.

It wasn’t Yuuri the one who sent it, but Phichit, just a few weeks after the competition. It arrived with a note from him:

 

_I found it on the floor of our room and Yuuri told me to dump it, but I know he would regret it once this is over. It’s broken, but I’m sure you can fix it and hang it on the fridge with the rest! Celestino and I are taking care of Yuuri as best as we can, I hope you’re doing fine!!_

_P.S.: Yuuri cooked katsudon, it was yummy, but he says yours is better! Sign me up for a katsudon appointment asap._

_Phichit_

 

It wasn’t hard to glue the two parts together, but the more Hiroko looked at the magnet, the more she felt that was how his son was feeling: broken in half. And, still, she fixed it in the hope that gluing the two pieces together would help him get better.

It pictured a Russian flag, the magnet. There wasn’t anything else, just the three-colour flag waving, as if a current of air was blowing next to it and the mast at its left was the only thing holding it in place. At the base, just like the other magnets, Sochi was written in golden Cyrillic letters.

The crack, though, ran vertically through the middle of the magnet, dividing the name of the city and the flag into two equal parts. And although Hiroko did her best to make it look like it had always been an only piece, the crack was still visible if looked at from a short distance.

Yuuri, years later, would stare at the magnet and confess what that crack meant to him. How he couldn’t stand the mention of Sochi or Russia for months, much less the mention of Victor, who offered him a commemorative photo in that very same city. That crack not only meant his breakdown but the moment that, without him realizing, ignited the spark of the change that was about to happen. That crack was him in pain, but also his healing.

Hiroko, though, didn’t know that at that moment, and the only thing that was in her mind was how spectacularly she had failed to convince his son of how valuable he was, how strong and caring, and how little she cared about the fact that he hadn’t medalled in Sochi nor in the following competitions. How she loved him no matter what.

Was she a good mother?

Was that why Yuuri hadn’t come home in the years he had lived in Detroit? Had she failed as a mother?

Sochi’s was the last magnet that Hiroko got from Yuuri in a while.

 

* * *

 

**Barcelona**

“We have Katsuki Yuuri’s scores… His free skate score is 221.58! He’s broken Victor Nikiforov’s long-time world record for the Men’s Single Free Skate! His total score is 319.41! He’s jumped all the way to first place.”

 

-

 

Hiroko placed Barcelona’s magnet on top of the fridge because it meant the world to her. It was unexpected, just like Victor’s arrival in spring, but so well-received and symbolic that she couldn’t help it. She had almost given up her hopes for new magnets after Sochi’s catastrophe, for Yuuri had started competing again and he had brought no more magnets home with him.

So when Victor put the smallest of boxes in her hands as soon as they arrived home from Barcelona and muttered a reverent _we bought it for you_ with a knowing smile, Hiroko had no idea what that tiny thing was keeping inside.

It was a magnet of the Sagrada Familia, with the name of the city written in black italics at the very top. The church was standing tall and glorious, the slightest trace of a blue sky at the edges. Yuuri had just sent her a picture of it a couple days before, and seeing it now between her hands stirred something inside her, something she thought was gone with Sochi and suddenly had come back restored and strongest, along with Yuuri trust in himself.

It couldn’t be more perfect.

“Tadaima,” Yuuri whispered directly looking at her mother while she stared at the magnet with tears in her eyes.

Hiroko looked up and cupped the magnet to her chest, letting the drops freely run down her cheeks.

“Okaa-san?” Yuuri approached Hiroko worriedly. “Are you…?”

“Okaeri.” She smiled through the tears and hugged his son. He hugged her back with all his body, closing his eyes and adjusting his breathing to hers.

“Are you-Are you proud of me? I didn’t finish first, I…”

“Yuuri,” Hiroko let go of him and slowly cupped his face with the magnet still in her hand, “always. We have always been proud of you, ever since you left this house. Our faith in you has never failed.”

Yuuri lowered his head until it was hidden in Hiroko’s crook, then he hugged her again and murmured.

“I’m sorry I make you worry that much. I’ll be a better son.”

“I’ll be a better mother as well, my love.” Hiroko caressed Yuuri’s crown caringly. “You’ve done great.”

He softly laughed as he kissed his mother’s cheek.

“You all have done great, too,” he said blushing, and he felt that the heaviest of weights left his chest.

“Vichhan?” Hiroko then said. Victor pretended he was greeting Makkachin, but he had actually witnessed the entire scene. He raised his eyes and looked at Hiroko in question. “You deserve this hug too,” Hiroko said. And just like that, she gestured with her free arm for him to join them in the so familiar moment.

“I’m-I’m not,” he started, but Hiroko didn’t just accept _no_ as an answer.

“You’re already part of this family. Or so do say your matching rings,” she giggled as she raised Yuuri’s ringed hand.

Yuuri flushed red from the tip of his head to his chest.

“I can explain that!” he exclaimed.

“We’re getting married once Yuuri gets five golds!” Victor stated with an adoring smile and his own hand raised.

“Victor!” Yuuri replied getting even redder, but Hiroko didn’t let him go. She instead gestured at Victor again, who quickly joined them in the hug this time.

“Thank you,” Hiroko whispered against his son’s shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

 

* * *

 

**St. Petersburg**

“Did you pack everything?” Hiroko asked from the ground floor.

“I checked everything a hundred times. I’m not leaving anything important behind,” Yuuri shouted while he carried a huge suitcase down the stairs. As soon as he reached the wooden floor and sat on it, his phone started ringing.

It was Victor.

“Vitya?” He answered in a mixture of confusion and alarm. “Is everything fine?”

“You’re leaving me behind,” he said in a childish sort of voice and Yuuri could even picture his pout.

“Victor you’re still upstairs and I’m not leaving. Finish packing and come down.”

“But Yuuuuuuri,” he opened his bedroom door while moaning and Yuuri didn’t need his phone to be able to hear his fiancé complaints anymore. He smiled. “I want you to carry me down too. I won’t be able to leave this house otherwise.”

The grin that spread across Yuuri’s face had enough power to light up the whole house. The grin that spread across Hiroko’s face when she saw his son’s smile had enough power to light up the whole neighbourhood.

“I’m going up. You better be ready or I’ll really leave you behind.” Yuuri stood up and started climbing up the stairs.

“You wouldn’t dare,” was Victor’s only answer.

 

-

 

When Hiroko got the St. Petersburg magnet, she seriously questioned her previous decision to place Barcelona’s magnet on the top of the fridge above the rest. She ended up putting St. Petersburg’s right next to it because she couldn’t choose which one was her favourite.

The magnet arrived only a few days after Yuuri and Victor moved, in a special delivery envelope. It was the biggest of the collection, not by a really noticeable difference, but it definitely stood out.

It depicted a bridge over a river. Its huge pylons were supporting most of its weight, and a few arches joint them together. A narrow metal railing ran over its border, and some lampposts were scattered all over its length. A bright blue was colouring the river under the bridge, too bright to be closer to the truth, and, on top of the bridge, a white and red bus was crossing. Hiroko really wished she could see St. Petersburg with her own eyes and not in the magnet, but she could wait.

She could wait because it was enough hearing how Yuuri had started calling their new apartment ‘home’. Hiroko then realized that she had taken another decision.

“Let this magnet be the last.”

Yuuri had called Hiroko to tell her how his day was going and which qualifiers he was assigned and, at some point, Hiroko had asked him to stop sending her more magnets.

“But… Okaa-san… Did I do something wrong? You didn’t like it?” Yuuri asked, concerned.

“Oh, not at all my love! We’re running out of space on the fridge and I want St. Petersburg’s to be the last one. It deserves to be,” Hiroko replied cheerfully. He let out a long and relieved sigh.

“You scared me!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she laughed.

“Then…” he whispered. “No more magnets?”

“No more magnets, our fridge is perfect as it is. It tells the perfect story.” Yuuri laughed at that and Hiroko joined him.

“Fine then. But did you like St. Petersburg one?”

“Yuuri, I loved it. It’s at the very top of the fridge, right next to Barcelona’s!”

Yuuri smiled even though Hiroko couldn’t see him and looked at his own bare fridge.

“I think I need to stick something on this fridge myself, it almost feels like it’s naked,” he said, unconsciously wording his thoughts.

Hiroko didn’t say a thing. Not at the moment, at least. A couple weeks later, though, she texted Yuuri. _I have a surprise for your new home. I can’t tell what it is, you need to wait until it arrives_.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand, that was it! I hope you liked it!!
> 
> Thanks to [Addy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrianna99/pseuds/Adrianna99) and [Baph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baph) for being my betas, and to the Okaeri mod team for working so hard in this! This was not only my first zine, but also what brought me closer to the yoi fandom, so I'm really, really thankful! I also love Hiroko a lot.
> 
> Thanks to all of you as well for reading! Tell me if you found any references ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) You can also find me on [tumblr](http://owlishann.tumblr.com).


End file.
